Friday night, Durango High School volleyball was winning the close sets, while Saturday was a different story.
Montrose showed why it’s the top team in the state in 4A by beating Durango, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon. But the score wasn’t indicative of how close the match actually was.
Durango had leads late in Set 1 and Set 3, but couldn’t close them out. Durango didn’t have the composure it had late in sets against Fruita Monument on Friday night and lost the chance to give Montrose its first loss of the season.
“I told them that we need to be in control and worry about every point,” Durango head coach Kelley Rifilato said. “Don't worry about what the score was, what the last one was. I actually said to be like Dory the fish and let it all go. You want to make mental notes of what's going on, but … In Set 2, we were still thinking about the last set … we didn't play horrible, but for whatever reason, we couldn't make the adjustment.”
The Demons fell to 6-13 overall and 3-4 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League after the 23-25, 16-25 and 25-23 loss while Montrose improved to 15-0 overall and 6-0 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Durango senior Hadyn Neiman led the team with 14 kills, while sophomore Devyn Edwards added 13 kills. Senior Indie Shows led Durango with 28 assists and senior Mia Carozza led the team with 17 digs.
Durango looked like it was going to continue its winning ways from the previous night in Set 1. Durango led 19-15 and led 23-20. However, the Demons failed to hold that three-point lead late. Durango struggled to defend against Montrose’s attacks late and looked like it was on its back foot. An attack from Montrose’s right side was tipped as it went flying out of bounds, giving Montrose the 25-23 Set 1 win.
Rifilato said the Demons had too many hitting errors early in the first set which cost them the set. Without those hitting errors, Rifilato thought Durango’s lead would’ve been too big to lose and could’ve changed the whole match.
The Demons got off to a good start in Set 2, leading 4-0 early. Neiman had a few kills and Durango was doing a nice job at the net on defense.
Montrose had the response. A kill at each post and an ace tied the set at four. The Red Hawks took a 13-8 lead after multiple attack errors at the net for Durango.
“The way they play, if it's not perfect, it's a chip or a roll every tool and so it slows the game down,” Rifilato said about Montrose. “But there's no reason why when you know that's going to happen, they're waiting for you to just make an error. It happens all the time; it’s high school volleyball.
The Red Hawks continued to hold their lead. Durango wasn’t having success with its attack attempts, while on the other side of the net, Montrose was dominating from its left side. Montrose’s Marcella Mendoza had an excellent Set 2, elevating with power that Durango couldn’t stop. Montrose won Set 2, 25-16, to take a 2-0 lead.
Set 3 started with a 5-1 lead for Montrose. Durango couldn’t find the looks at the posts it was getting the day prior against Fruita. The Red Hawks had the answer on defense with a certain level of composure that comes with being undefeated.
That composure went away for a few points as Montrose had some hitting errors and Durango tied the set at nine. Durango took an 11-10 lead after a kill and an ace by Neiman. She was finding cracks in Montrose’s armor that other Durango players couldn’t.
Edwards kept Durango in the set with a kill and then three consecutive aces to tie the set at 17. Durango started blocking and digging Mendoza’s attacks really well. This led to more opportunities for the Demons. A great set by Shows to Mathews on the right side gave Durango a 21-20 lead.
An excellent dig by Carozza kept a point alive and led to Durango having another one-point lead. However, Montrose didn’t falter and closed it out with a point from the right side and a 25-23 win.
“Us not making adjustments when blocking, that was the difference in the whole game,” Rifilato said. “I get we played a big game last night and we didn't get much time off, but that's the way the world is. We do it every weekend, so that's no excuse.”
The Demons are back at home on Friday at 6 p.m. to play Grand Junction Central.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
